Ukraine brings home 270 prisoners in exchange with Russia

What we know about the latest exchange

Another 270 Ukrainians have returned home.

“270 of our people are home. A very important result,” Zelenskyy wrote.

According to the president, those returning include National Guard members, including Azov fighters, border guards, territorial defense troops, Navy personnel, Ground Forces soldiers, Air Assault Forces troops, members of the State Special Transport Service, and nine civilians. Most had been held in captivity since 2022.

Most of those released are service members who defended Ukraine in Mariupol. Defenders from the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Kyiv, Mykolaiv and Chernihiv directions are also returning home. Many were illegally convicted in Russia.

“Among those returning are five people who were believed to have been killed during the Russian terrorist attack in Olenivka in July 2022,” Zelenskyy said.

Details of the prisoner exchange

According to Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, 261 Ukrainian service members were freed from Russian captivity today. Another nine civilians were also returned to Ukraine.

“This is the third stage of the combined prisoner exchange that began on August 19,” the statement said.

Those returning home include members of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, including Navy personnel, Ground Forces troops, Air Assault Forces, the State Special Transport Service, Territorial Defense Forces, Special Operations Forces and Military Law Enforcement Service, as well as National Guard members, State Border Guard Service personnel and an emergency responder from the State Emergency Service.

Most of the defenders released today were captured in 2022, including during the defense of Mariupol.

Five of them survived the terrorist attack in Olenivka, where they were held in the infamous “Barracks 200.” Another nine are seriously ill.

Those returning home include service members who fought in the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Kyiv, Mykolaiv and Chernihiv directions, as well as defenders of the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant.

Among those released today are 38 officers. Some of the service members had been held captive since 2018 and 2020.

A significant number of the defenders released today faced criminal prosecution by the aggressor state and were sentenced to various prison terms, including life imprisonment, on fabricated charges in violation of international law.

Historic prisoner exchange

According to Ukrainian Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets, today’s exchange is historic because it secured the return of the largest number of convicted service members: 86 convicted personnel and one defender who had been subjected to criminal prosecution by the enemy.

Lubinets said the youngest person released is 24, while the oldest is 63.

One of those returning home celebrates a birthday tomorrow and will mark the occasion on Ukrainian soil. The defender will turn 60.

Previous prisoner exchange

The last full-scale exchange took place on August 19, when 103 Ukrainian defenders from the Armed Forces, National Guard and State Border Guard Service returned home.

More than two months have therefore passed between the two exchanges. However, a separate special phase took place on August 24, when 10 Ukrainian soldiers who had been considered missing in action returned to Ukraine through Belarus.

Earlier, we reported on another Russian information campaign surrounding prisoner exchanges. Russian representatives published lists of Ukrainian prisoners of war whom, they claimed, Kyiv was allegedly refusing to take back.

Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets refuted those claims, emphasizing that Ukraine seeks to bring every one of its citizens home from captivity without exception.